Good Morning Girls!  I am currently training to run a 10 mile race on Memorial Weekend.   Now the thought of running 10 miles totally freaks me out.  I can not think about it.  In fact, just typing the words I am running a 10 mile race makes me hyperventilate a little bit.  You see, I have never been much of a runner.  Two years ago I got this wild idea to run in a 5k just to see if I could, and my time proved that I was in fact not a runner!  However, there was something about these races that kept bringing me back to the start line for more.  I liked feeling a part of something bigger than myself.  I enjoyed the mental torture and breakthrough I experienced at each race.  I loved the whole routine of it that me and my girlfriends had.  It was fun in a sick kind of way.  But when it was all said and done, I was still not a runner.
But now I've got this stirring in my spirit.  I have a desire to run.  I have a curiosity building.  Can I really run 10 miles?  The scary thing is that if I prove I can, I fear the next thought will be "Can I run a marathon?"!  Yikes!  Those thoughts actually cause a gag reflex as I try not to freak out!  Who in their right mind would want to run for 4 hours?  I don't like to do anything for 4 hours!  Twenty six point two miles!  How insane is that!  That is like me running to church!  Okay, lets not think about that anymore.  I haven't even survived the 10 miles yet.  in fact, the most I have ever run is 5 miles.  And now this Saturday, I have to run 6.  I am following a training program and according to it, I should be able to run six miles on Saturday.  Perhaps they have not seen me run before.  Can I really run 6 miles?  At the pace I run it will take me between 55-60 minutes.  So basically on Saturday morning I have to run for an hour.  That is crazy!  Why in the world would I want to do that?  Did I somehow forget that I AM NOT A RUNNER!!!!
Girls, as you can see, if I am in fact going to run in a 10 mile race, I have some serious thought changes that need to be made!  Over the last 3 weeks I have had to continually tell myself.  "You are a runner.  You can do this.  You can do anything.  All things are possible."  I have had to meditate on all the people who have run before rather than meditate on how much I have not run.  When I am running I tell myself  "You can handle anything for 30 minutes"......soon I am saying  "you can handle anything for 20 minutes".....and so on until I am to the last minute.  When I run I tell myself "it doesn't hurt.  You can go a little more.  You can go a little faster.  You can do this."  I have to talk myself forward every step of the way.  And guess what- so far I have been able to follow the training program 100%!  In fact, today I ran my 3 miles faster than I have ever run before.  I did it in 28 minutes!  That is slow for some, but for me, it is a new record.  So guess what......as I think in my heart that I am a runner, I am becoming a runner!
I have found that I do best when I keep the big picture a little fuzzy.  I don't meditate on the 10 miles.  I think on each day.  Each day I make choices according to the day.  How much sleep do I need for tomorrows run?  How much should I eat and when?  If I eat pizza tonite, it will not be a pretty scene on the treadmill tomorrow...that kind of stuff.  By following my training program day by day and focusing on each day, I will get to the big picture.  By the time I get there I will be ready to look at it clearly. 
You know we all have some kind of 10 miles race ahead of us in our lives.  Maybe it is in your relationships.  Maybe it is in your finances.  Maybe you are expecting your first baby.  Maybe you need to step away from the race and start focusing on each day of training.  It just may save you from hyperventilating and shutting down.......just a thought........

Matthew 6:34 "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.  Today's trouble is enough for today."

Love you all-
Jen